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Lost Episodes Part 0
Despite this experience, I decided to stick my neck out a little more. I had an acquaintance in the FBI who owed my family the favor of a lifetime. I convinced him over dinner that I paid for to look into the Lost Media Group for me. A few weeks later, he had a document for me. It was an analyst report containing all the information the FBI had on this mysterious group: The information known by the Bureau about the Lost Media Group is so scant as to strongly suggest that the group does not really exist. This report assumes the existence of the group for investigative purposes, however most of the information contained herein is more speculation than confirmed fact. Most of the testimony concerning the LMG has been hearsay and off-the record... The exact nature, size, organization, origins, and goals of the LMG are mysterious. They are said to be a multinational organization that has embedded in multiple entertainment industries and is most active in cities with large concentrations of entertainment companies, such as Las Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Toronto, and Tokyo... Membership is by invitation only and is rumored to include a number of wealthy entertainment executives and financiers. Secondhand informants report that the group uses a variety of criminal tactics, including bribery, blackmail, and violence, to prevent the dissemination of information concerning them... It is speculated that the LMG uses other crime syndicates as proxies for their operations in order to obfuscate investigations into their activities, and that they mislead people into believing they are more powerful than they really are. Claims that the group possesses supernatural powers are likely the result of selective disinformation campaigns... The Lost Media Group first came to the Bureau's attention during the 1970s, but is said to date back to the early 1900s. During the 1920s and 2930s, an urban legend emerged concerning "mystery reels", which were said to be altered versions of syndicated movie theater reels that differed significantly in content and tone from the standard copies. The Bureau believes that the lack of public awareness of entertainment industry standards and copyright contributed to the fact that such works were not reported to the media or law enforcement... '' ''A recurring theme in testimony concerning "mystery reels" is that they often contained violent content that was more extreme than mainstream theater content, and several former members of censorship boards have claimed to have received complaints about them. Witnesses also claimed that mystery reels based on live-action films featured different actors, and that these actors in retrospect seem to have been coerced. One witness claimed that an actor in a silent mystery reel appeared to be saying "help me" before being silenced by someone off-screen. These claims have led the Bureau to believe that the LMG may have participated in trafficking in human beings. The group is also rumored to have been involved in the production and distribution of "snuff films", though there is as little evidence to support this claim as there is to support the very existence of snuff movies... ''Other crimes the Lost Media Group is suspected to be involved with include media piracy, drugging of actors, trafficking in endangered species (for use in films), and recording executions for other criminal organizations... '' I pondered over the report. Membership by invitation only...well-funded, well-connected, must be well-organized. Yet their activities seemed nothing short of bizarre. Why would a group with the kind of resources this group apparently had—unlike the FBI, I was beginning to take the existence of the Lost Media Group for granted at this point—not spend them on more traditional and profitable criminal activities? Why would that many people commit so many resources and risk so much just to make movies? There was no way such a sophisticated syndicate could make enough money off of simple piracy to be considered profitable, and the other crimes listed in the report would seem beyond the scope of expertise of a group ostensibly comprised of people in the entertainment industry. Was it not about money? An ideological or religious motivation, perhaps? Certainly it didn't fit any religion I could think of. And it didn't seem like they were interested in influencing elections. Their motives must be subtler. They had a message they wanted to send, or an influence they wanted to create, using the power of mass media, in were willing to dabble in any number of crimes toward whatever their ultimate end was.